Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries

Creator

Victor, Arthur E.

Title

Arthur E. Victor Papers

ID

Cage 594

Date [inclusive]

1882-1986

Extent

95.0 folders.

General Physical Description note

5 linear feet of shelf space.

Language

English

Abstract

Correspondence, subject files and reports relative to Victor's work as the Spokane area housing expeditor for the National Housing Agency, 1942-1949. Other materials concern historical research on Mayview, Wash., and Idaho lumber manufacturer Fred Herrick, and volunteer work with the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

Preferred Citation note

Biographical/Historical note

Arthur Earl Victor was born March 30, 1900 near Mayview, Washington. His family began homesteading in 1877 near Mayview, a town named for Victor's aunt. Victor spent his early years on his parent's wheat ranch in Garfield County; he went to high school in both Hillsboro, Oregon and Pullman, Washington and then joined the Navy in 1918. In 1921 Victor married Lila Mae Miller whom he met while attending Oregon State College after WWI. Together they worked the farm in Garfield County and Victor made an income as a carpenter and mechanic. In the mid 1920s, he went to North Idaho to work for lumber baron Fred Herrick. When Herrick's business collapsed in 1928, Victor turned to carpentry and construction to make ends meet. He and Lila also ran a flower business for a time.

During the mid 1930s, Victor began employment with the United States Soil Conservation Service. From 1935 to 1942 he managed 18 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the Northwest. After his work with the CCC, Victor worked as a housing expeditor for the National Housing Agency (NHA). Much of his work for NHA included the operation of War Housing Centers in many Northwest cities to secure housing for WWII veterans. After the NHA housing expeditor's office in Spokane closed in the late 1940s, Victor obtained a position as executive secretary of the Home Builders Association of Spokane. He also worked for Mobile Homes Corp. and built 300 homes in the mid 1950s. Lila and A.E. Victor opened a home-based lapidary supply business in 1955 and ran this successfully for ten years before their retirement in 1965. In the years between his retirement and his death in 1987, Victor worked with Lila on their lapidary publishing business. He helped establish the first federal employees credit union in Spokane, served on the Mayor's committee to advise small businesses and was active in SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

Scope and Contents note

Papers of Arthur E. Victor consist chiefly of correspondence, enclosures and reports regarding Victor's involvement with housing agencies and programs, and correspondence, research notes and drafts concerned with historical projects and writings undertaken by Victor. Also included are a variety of documents concerning personal business, volunteer activities, and his earlier federal employment with the Soil Conservation Service.

Arrangement note

Papers were arranged by the WSU Libraries staff. Several series of file folders have been established. Papers in each folder are arranged chronologically, insofar as possible.

The first series, Correspondence, is arranged alphabetically by folder subject title. It contains correspondence pertaining to Victor's work with the CCC and the NHA as well as some letters pertaining to his research on the Mayview Tramway and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The latter are good primary sources as they were written by people who operated and used the Mayview Tramway and who were related to victims of the massacre.

The second series contains personal and business files arranged categorically beginning with the most personal records and ending with business records for the lapidary shop. Also included is a folder on the Victor family genealogy and pioneer history written by his aunt in 1936.

The third series is arranged categorically into manuscripts, typescripts and research and thereunder alphabetically by folder title. Included are Victor's published stories about pioneer life and work in the logging camps. Series number four contains records of land surveys, and sale records of property in Benton and Franklin counties (Washington) during the 1970s. It is arranged alphabetically by county and thereunder chronologically.

The fifth series contains the remnants of Victor's files on two Spokane organizations, the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Home Builder's Association, and is arranged chronologically within each file. Series six, Federal Agencies, is arranged chronologically within each file. It begins with Civilian Conservation Corps records and a file on the Soil Conservation Service. The National Housing Agency decimal file begins with file number 43 in box five; thereafter the files are arranged according to this decimal system, a copy of which can be found in file 43. This series does not contain the complete NHA decimal file, but rather a selection kept by Victor in his capacity as Housing Expeditor and removed in 1947 when his office closed. Some interesting items include: FHA article,
Relationship Between Condition of Dwellings and Rentals by Race, (1946), and 1940s housing project records for Lewiston, Pullman, Orofino, Spokane, Grand Coulee and Yakima.

Series seven contains Victor's pocket notebooks, a day diary, business cards, some piano music and one published volume, ``The Finger Post to Public Business," (1864). The oversize folder contains an assortment of Newspapers saved from the 1940s and 1950s, FHA and NHA Veteran's Housing posters, maps, building blueprints, and a 1904 Washington General Election Ballot. These items are arranged according to size.

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

The papers of Arthur E. Victor contained in this collection are the second group of Victor's papers accessioned by the WSU Libraries. The first accession (
Cage 376) was donated by Arthur E. Victor in 1977. The second accession (MS89-11) was donated by Lila Mae Victor in 1989, two years after the death of A.E. Victor, her husband. Many of the files contained in this collection come from the Decimal File Victor kept while employed by the National Housing Agency.